Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-12-05"
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- Performance of microalgae-bacteria granular sludge for nutrient removal of freshwater aquaculture wastewaterPublication . Couto, Ana T.; Miranda, Catarina; Cardador, Martim; Amorim, Catarina L.; Castro, Paula M.L.
- Labrys portucalensis F11 efficiently degrades Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalatePublication . Moreira, Irina S.; Duarte, Rafael D. C.; Geraldo, Rafaela A. F.; Castro, Paula M. L.
- Aerobic granular sludge has EPS-producing bacteria able to tolerate saltPublication . Paulo, Ana M. S.; Amorim, Catarina L.; Castro, Paula M. L.The aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process is a promising biotechnology which relies on the formation of compact biomass granules. Granulation occurs due to the overproduction of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by some microbes in response to stress conditions. EPS protect bacteria from the effect of toxic or inhibiting compounds present in the wastewater, such as salts. One of the current challenges is to use the AGS process to treat high salinity wastewater, commonly produced by agro-food and chemical industries. The main objective of this study was to screen for EPS-producing bacteria bacteria in an AGS reactor treating synthetic saline wastewater contaminated with a toxic compound. Several bacterial isolates were obtained from the reactor biomass. Genomic DNA was extracted and isolates (30) were grouped according to species similarity, based on RAPD profiles. Isolates displaying unique profiles (15) were subsequently identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Bacteria highly related to Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, Stenotrophomonas, Flavobacterium and Pseudoxanthomonas were obtained. Isolates SG4 (Stenotrophomonas) and FG10 (Flavobacterium) belong to bacterial genera associated to EPS production in granules. These were selected for growth and biofilm formation assays with increasing NaCl concentrations (0 to 35 g L-1). Both isolates were able to grow in the presence of 35 g NaCl L-1, despite at a lower growth rate. Although salt increase affected biofilm production, SG4 was the best biofilm producer. EPS production by SG4 in the presence of 10 and 20 g L-1 of NaCl was compared. EPS was extracted and the content in proteins, humic acids and carbohydrates was quantified. SG4 was able to produce more EPS in the presence of 10 g L-1 (123 mg g-1 VSS) compared to 20 g L-1 of NaCl (77.6 mg g-1 VSS). EPS-producing bacteria with ability to tolerate high salinity were retrieved from an AGS process treating synthetic wastewater. Further research is required to gain more knowledge on these bacteria and their importance for the robustness of a process treating saline wastewater.
- How is digital media being used by consulting companiesPublication . Faritova, Elvira; Silva, Susana Cristina Lima Costa; Andrade, António Manuel Valente deThe purpose of the research is to examine the digital media use of a sample, and see what media are the most popular, as well as to find out is there a difference between the approach of global companies operating in Portugal and local firms. A further research objective is to find a benchmark for an effective digital communication strategy. As two types of consulting companies that are present in the Portuguese B2B market were studied, it is possible to say that they would have the same business model, but the way they represent themselves in digital media would be affected by the company size. It was tested if company size correlates with the creation of a localized social media page in Portuguese; the content type in social media pages has effect on the audience engagement; the origin/size of the consulting company has correlation with its’ PR activity on external websites; and if the size of the consulting company correlates with utilization of the intranet. To make an exploratory study analysis of digital media adoption, list of 36 consulting companies was retrieved from the internet, but as it was identified that all of the companies are international, it was decided to make a second list of 22 local companies. Primary data collection proved to be inapplicable as consulting is a very closed business working with confidential information. None of the companies from the sample agreed to an interview, therefore secondary data was used during this study. The research estimated that the manner of utilization of digital media by the studied companies would differ based on two factors: company size and the origin of the company. It was found that global companies use a larger number of digital channels, whereas local companies have a lower level of audience engagement. The size of the company plays a decisive role in whether the company utilizes intranet, and if it has a localized page on social media. In addition, it was estimated that the consulting companies are not really taking advantage of Web 2.0 tools. No evidence was found that consulting companies, regardless their size and origin, are using social media to understand customer needs. Despite a Web 2.0 approach allowing the audience to post content on company pages, in fact, the only way that companies have content published on their own media by other name – is by the name of their experts and in the form of blogs. As the study was limited to consulting companies that either are situated in Portugal or started their business in this country, this can be considered a limitation, and the only way to study further how company size is correlated with the use of digital media, is to increase the sample without limiting the study to the companies belonging to the consulting business. For further research the following areas could be interesting to see: how employees’ personal profiles are used in the social media strategy of the consulting company; compare the content and engagement only of those companies that have local accounts; find a correlation between the nature of service and the channels/topics that companies find more relevant to them; and make a comparison of the localized and global content of global companies.
- Bacterial diversity shifts in AGS reactor treating food industry wastewaterPublication . Paulo, Ana M. S.; Amorim, Catarina L.; Castro, Paula M. L.Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a promising technology for treating industrial wastewater, possessing higher biomass retention and tolerance to toxic substrates than conventional activated sludge systems. AGS presents a diverse microbial community responsible for the simultaneous removal of carbon and nutrients. These communities are protected by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that allow for the compact structure of the granules. As a result, bacteria present in the aerobic granules are more resistant to variable wastewater composition, as commonly produced in food industry. The main objective of this work is to study the microbial community dynamics of an AGS reactor treating wastewater from a fish canning plant. The reactor was monitored during 220 days, divided into eight operational phases. COD, NH4+ and PO43- removal were assessed and biomass samples were collected throughout time for microbiome profiling. The reactor presented good COD, PO43- and NH4+ removal during phases I, II and III, but decreased performance during phase IV, when a higher organic load was applied. The removal processes recovered after phase IV until the end of operation. Proteobacteria were dominant in the inoculum (relative abundance of 64.8 %) and dominated almost all reactor phases. Bacteroidetes were second dominant in the inoculum (17.5 %) as well in most reactor phases, being present with higher relative abundance (55.5 %) than Proteobacteria (38.4 %) during phase IV. Within Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria were initially more abundant but Betaproteobacteria predominated after phase IV. For Bacteroidetes, the community dynamics has also changed from phase IV onwards, with Flavobacteriia losing its high relative abundance to Saprospiria and Cytophagia. Several bacterial genera were detected throughout reactor operation, such as Phenylobacterium and Flavobacterium, while other were detected with higher abundance before (Methylocaldum and Plasticicumulans) or after phase IV (Thauera and Paracoccus). The relationship between bacterial community shifts and process performance was assessed. This study increases our knowledge on AGS technology application in real wastewater treatment.
- Exopolysaccharides production by aerobic granular sludge upon exposure to dual anthropogenic stressesPublication . Alves, Marta; Castro, Paula M.L.; Amorim, Catarina L.
- A influência das agências de comunicação sobre a agenda mediática e pública em Portugal : estudo de caso : campanha “considere os factos” : ANIPLA : pela OMNI PartnersPublication . Viana, Patrícia Mota Ferreira Morgado; Romba, Maria Inês das Neves Moreira de AlmeidaA presente dissertação debruça-se sobre o papel e a capacidade de influência das agências de comunicação sobre a construção das agendas mediática e pública, em Portugal. Assim sendo, para o enquadramento teórico são caraterizadas algumas noções de interesse para a investigação, como agenda-setting, agenda mediática, agenda pública, opinião pública, Relações Públicas, agência de comunicação e assessoria de imprensa. Para este trabalho, é convocada a hipótese clássica da área da Comunicação, Agenda-setting, de acordo com a perspetiva de McCombs & Shaw, autores de referência. Para dar resposta à pergunta de partida “Qual a influência das agências da comunicação sobre a agenda mediática e pública, em Portugal?”, é aplicado o método do estudo de caso a uma campanha da Associação Nacional da Indústria para a Proteção das Plantas (ANIPLA), denominada “Considere os Factos” (2018), cuja divulgação mediática ficou a cargo da agência de comunicação ONMI Partners. Para complementar o estudo de caso, foram também conduzidas entrevistas estruturadas a um painel de experientes e reputados profissionais de jornalismo e de comunicação e relações públicas portugueses A partir desta investigação, fica clara a relação entre jornalistas e profissionais de agência de comunicação, a importância das funções dos profissionais de comunicação para a atividade jornalística, a evolução dos conteúdos jornalísticos, bem como a capacidade de influência das agências de comunicação sobre a agenda dos media e da sociedade, em Portugal. Além do mais, propõe-se uma evolução à hipótese clássica do Agenda-setting, no panorama atual português.
- A questão da formação sacerdotal no contexto das transformações paradigmáticas do século XX em Portugal : o caso do Seminário dos OlivaisPublication . Ataíde, Mendo Saraiva de Reffóios Paes de; Ferreira, António Manuel Antunes de MatosO Seminário dos Olivais é fundado no Portugal da década de 1930, num contexto de restauração cristã, onde tem desde logo um rápido crescimento. Nas décadas de 1950 e 1960 atravessa uma conjuntura de uma profunda mudança de mentalidades, que se acentua no período de recepção do Concílio Vaticano II, quando passa por um período de crise. Surgem novas prioridades, sendo valorizadas na formação sacerdotal as questões sociais, a inserção comunitária e a intervenção na polis. Esta dissertação estuda a história do Seminário dos Olivais no período de 1931-1970 e o contexto sociopolítico e eclesial em que é inserido, tendo como objecto particular a evolução das directrizes formativas e do ambiente formativo vivido. Através deste trabalho, procuramos demonstrar como o momento de crise vivido no seminário tem as suas raízes em questões teológicas e sociopolíticas da época, aí vividas com grande intensidade.
- Green roofs as a biotechnological solution to increase water retention in urban areasPublication . Monteiro, Cristina M.; Castro, Paula M. L.Urban world population has grown rapidly over the last decades. 74% of the European population live in urban areas, and that is expected to increase to over 80% by 2050. This rapid urbanization brings several environmental problems, aggravated due to climate change. Conservation and enhancement of green infrastructures in urban areas is imperative for sustainable urban development. Green Roofs (GR), a multilayer technological construction that uses vegetation on top of buildings or structural slabs, are becoming a strong choice to promote urban greenery, using an area that accounts for ca. 50% of the impermeable urban surface area. Besides energy benefits to the building structure, water retention/runoff delay to the stormwater drainage systems is another ecosystem service provided by GR. In the present study, a GR pilot system using aromatic plants and a commercial substrate has been studied regarding its capacity of water retention. Based on a previous water runoff model, rainwater retention by the system has been calculated to be ca. 30%. In previous studies, aromatic plants demonstrated that could be successfully used on GR in the Mediterranean region. Strategies to increase plant growth and minimize the adverse effects of the harsh environment on plant growth on the top of a building are important. Pot experiments using Satureja montana comprised inoculation of a selected mixture of plant growth promoting bacteria. Differences in the growth of plants in control and inoculated pots were followed to assess the potential of bacterial endophytes as bioinoculants in green roofs vegetation is under analysis.
- A relação entre profissionais de relações públicas e jornalistas em contexto digitalPublication . Matos, Bárbara Paulo de; Brandão, Nuno Manuel Coelho de GoulartEm ambiente digital, serão apenas os Jornalistas os principais stakeholders das ações dos profissionais de Relações Públicas em contexto digital? Qual é ponto de situação da relação bidirecional entre os Jornalistas e os profissionais de Relações Públicas, derivado das mudanças impulsionas pelo digital? A comunicação digital e as potencialidades da web foram disruptivas e alteram paradigmas e formas de trabalhar nos dois lados do campo. A relação entre Jornalista e Relações Públicas passou a ser uma relação ‘pública’, os planos de comunicação dos profissionais de Relações Públicas passaram a ter uma vertente mais estratégica e integram os novos players entram na equação: os Influenciadores Digitais e os Citizen Journalists. Apesar de o digital ter impactado a área do Jornalismo e das Relações Públicas, acredita-se que o estabelecimento de relações offline é mais relevante e importante para o propósito de promoção de relações duradouras e de confiança entre Jornalistas e Relações Públicas, sendo que o ambiente online apenas estimula o que já existe. No âmbito dos relações Públicas, a relação online estimula uma relação simétrica bidirecional, onde há mais comunicação e partilha, e o online proporciona novas ferramentas de trabalho, assim como práticas, contribuindo para uma comunicação mais eficaz por parte dos Profissionais de Relações Públicas. Os principais resultados da presente dissertação indicam que o contexto digital dinamiza as relações entre os profissionais de Relações Públicas e Jornalistas, no entanto, essas relações apenas serão confiáveis se forem criadas presencialmente entre os dois profissionais. Também é ainda constatado que através do contexto digital os profissionais de Relações Públicas podem assim conhecer melhor o perfil dos Jornalistas, o que lhes possibilita direcionar melhor as comunicações, e que, com o digital emergem novos players no processo comunicacional, o que lhes permite contornar as barreiras jornalistas no processo de divulgação de comunicações.